My Fathers uniform and the patches. Help needed long winded i'm afraid

[Sean Dunnage]

Just recently I found a large accountants book in my Dads things which I've been sorting since he passed away last October. The book is lined and 8X14. Apparently he was writing his life down on paper for me and anyone else who was interested. Up front my Dad was just a British Soldier during WW2 and Korea. He always said he was nothing special but he was to me. You know how you always think your dad wins all the time and can't be stopped when you are younger.
Anyway he had an interesting army career from being in the Home Guard at 16 in 1942 to joining the regular army in Feb 1943 on his 17th birthday and then onto to Jumping in Market Garden to being the NCO in charge of the Berlin Riding Stables in 1946 to 49 and then an armoured car commander in Korea in 1950/51.
He was trained as a field medic, ambulance driver, paratrooper, commando, engineers, glider pilot, lorry driver, and explosives and mines. This is what he wrote anyway. I have requested his records from DND but have been told it will take up to one year to receive them, all for 30 Stirling. My Father was attached to the General Service Corps and sent to which units his skills were needed and then sent back afterwards. He says he was attached to so many units and camps he can not remember them all.

Originally my father was not intended to jump in September 1944, he was simply dropping off some paratroopers on the 20th of the month at a British airfield as he was currently serving with the RASC on returning from a short stint in France after D-Day. One of the Paratrooper lads collapsed from a ruptured appendix on his way the planes. A colonel then noticed my Fathers qualification patches which included engineers and parachutist and asked if he knew anything about demolitions, my Father said yes, Explosives and mines. At that point my Dad was told to chute up and draw a demolition pack from the quartermaster as they needed someone to remove demolitions from a bridge and they were now short a man. My dad explained to the colonel that his unit was expecting him back at camp, that’s where he learned you don’t argue with an Airborne Colonel! He was told they would be notified of his new assignment. His landing didn’t go well according to the story so I’ll stop there. Let's just say he didn't go any further than the landing field.

What I’m trying to find out and do is replicate his uniform on the day he was abducted? for the Market Garden drop as a sort of neat memory of him to add to my small collection of ww2 stuff. Know that I have the means to do it I would like to get one made up.

I know he was wearing his battle dress and a beret with his RASC badge which I have the original of. I have some of his original qualification badges here which are a mixture of WW2 and Korea. He has the “B trade patch” with wreath, Para light bulb, and a Steering Wheel with IC above it ? not sure what that means. Obviously I’m missing a bunch of them. I’m currently trying to sort out which Engineer patch he would have been wearing that day on his uniform. Crossed axes, crossed axes with wreath? I’m also wondering what shoulder title if any would he have been wearing being with the GSC, did they have shoulder titles. Would his other qualification patches have been on the uniform. What other patches would he most likely have been wearing. I imagine he was issued a jump smock and helmet as well as any other webbing he would have needed. I know he already had a sten gun with him as well as his Sykes Fairbairn knife (which I still have here) so weapons isn’t an issue. Getting a Sten gun maybe an issue but that’s for later.

I’m currently trying to get an original Battle Dress uniform but they seem to go fairly expensive so I may have to settle for a repop. If anyone knows a good original uniform supplier with decent prices I’m very interested. The Para smock is going to be hellish expensive I know and I’ll have to settle for a repop on that I’m sure.

If someone can help me out here with the uniform and how it would have looked I would appreciate it. Please respond to my email at sdunnage (@) rogers.com (take out the parenthesis)

Thanks
Sean

[Sean Dunnage]

Here are the original trade and cap badges. The B trade badge is significantly bigger than the repro I have purchased. Almost double in size!
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...pse157f610.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps6bb491bb.jpg
http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e3...ps60a07e0a.jpg

[maple_leaf_eh]

Quite a tale! Good stories supported by documents become believable. I would suggest getting HIS information is more important than collecting artifacts. Those are just things.